Island



(No Model.)

G. W.- STAFFORD. LINGO FOR LOO MS.

.No. 499,478. PatentedJune 13,1893.

ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE W. STAFFORD, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

LINGO FOR LOOMS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 499,478, dated Jun'e13, 1893.

Application filed March 15, 1893. Serial No, 466,119- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. STAFFORD, a citizen of the United States,residing at .Providence, in the county of Providence and State of RhodeIsland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lingoes forLooms, of which the following is a specification, reference being hadtherein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates'to the lingoes or harness weights which are used inlooms, particularly in connection with the heddles of Jacquard harness.These weights ordinarily are made of pieces of wireof suitable diame terand length, and usually have the eyes, by which they are connected withthe heddletwines or wires whereby they are suspended, tormedby holesthat are punched through the ends of the wires, the said ends beingflattenedand thereby widened prior to theformation of the said holes inorder to enable the latter to be madeof sufficient size. Lingoes havingthe eyes made in this way present serious objections and disadvantagesin use. In the first place, the flattened portions of the lingoes takeup room laterally, and, in addition, interfere somewhat with thevertical movements of the lingoes. In the second place, when the lingoesare suspended by twine heddles, if the interior edges of the eyes arerough or sharpthey will quickly cut the portions of the heddle-twineswhich are passed through the said eyes, and, also, the flattenedportions project to such an extent that in the closely massed bunch oflingoes and suspending heddle-twines in a loom the said twines becomebadly chafed or cut bythe edges or angles of the said projectingflattened portions. Usually, in practice, aftera hole has been punchedthrough the flattened end of the piece of wire of which a lingo isformed, the sides of the hole are countersunk and the top or head of thelingo is ground, the object of these operations being to render the saidsides and top or head smooth. It requires considerable skill on the partof the maker to get the parts sufficiently smooth and so that they willnot cut the suspending heddle-twines. It is almost the rule that fromthree to ten per cent. of the lingoes pertaining to the twine heddles ofthe Jacquard harness of a loom will fall oif in the first few days ofoperation. Furthermore, not only does the flattened and widened headchafe on the twines that are attached to the other lingoes near it andthus cut them out, but the said head, in consequence of being widened,necessarily takes up more room laterally.

When lingoes are made in the customary manner above described, the eyesthereof are closed all around, that-is have no slots oropenings leadingthereto. Consequently, the operations of attaching wire heddles to suchlingoes are difficult and expensive. Either the wire of which suchheddles are made must be threaded through the eyes of thelingoes beforethe said wires are doubled, and twisted together to form the heddles,or, when it is sought to use finished heddles,special means of unitingor attaching the heddles to the lingoes must be provided and applied.Recently, various improved forms of lingoes have been devised in whichthese objections and disadvantages have been more or less completelyobviated, but these improved lingoes have been of such characters andconstructions as that they have not yet come into general .use, owing tothe expense attendant upon their production.

The object of my present invention has been to provide a lingo which notonly shall be free from the objections hereinbefore set forth, but shallbeof such form and construction as to enable it to be cheaply produced,and to be readily and quickly connected with a wire heddle.

My invention consists in the improved lingo which I shall now proceed todescribe, and the important and peculiar features of which areparticularly pointed out and distinctly defined in the claims at theclose of this specification.

In' the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 shows in elevation a form oflingo constituting one modification of my invention, and part of a wireheddle to which the lingo is attached. Fig. 2 shows the wire of whichthe lingo of Fig. 1 is made, as it appears before being bent to form theeye. Fig. 3 is a view similar in character to Fig. 2 but taken at aright angle to the latter. Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are views illustratingasecond modification. Figs. 7, 8 and 9 are views illustrating a thirdmodification.

The main portion 1 of the lingo as made by me ordinarily will be, asshown, of uniform diameter. In cross-section it may be cylindrical,square, oval, or flat. I have in the drawings represented lingoes whichare cylindrical in cross-section. In Figs. 1, 2 and 3 the end of thewire on which the eye is formed is tapered from the point 2 to the point3, which latter is in practice usually about half an inch from thecorresponding extremity. From point 3 to the end of the wire the latteris of reduced diameter and approximately straight and parallel-sided. Asindicated in Figs. 2 and 3, the taper is not uniform entirely around thecircumference of the wire, and one part of the wire is left almoststraight to the end of the wire, or it may be made perfectly straight,thereby throwing the point of the wire to one side of the longitudinalaxis of the latter. See, particularly, Fig. 3, in which a portion ofvery slight taper is shown on one side of the lingo. The reducedparallel-sided portion at the end of the wire is bent into the form of asmall eye 5 through which is passed the twine or wire 4 of the heddle towhich the lingo is connected. One object in forming the taper so as tothrow the point of the wire to one side of the longitudinal axis of thewire, as shown in Fig. 3, is to enable the extreme point of the wire tobe carried around, in forming the eye, so far within the extended linesof the sides of the main portion of the wire as that there shall be noprobability of the point in any way becoming engaged with a heddletwineattached to an adjacent lingo. Another object is to enable the point ofthe wire to be placed in such a position as that it cannot engage andretain the loop or eye which is formed at the lower end of the heddle ifsuch loop or eye slips around under the eye of the lingo. \Vhen the eyeis formed and closed it is central with the body of the lingo, asclearly shown.

As will be apparent from Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the portion of the wirewhich forms the eye is practically of uniform diameter all around theeye.

In Figs. 4, 5 and 6 I show a modification in which the end portion ofreduced diameter is formed to one side of the longitudinal axis of thewire, and the taper of Figs. 1 to 3 is omitted, an abrupt shoulder beingformed at 6 at one side of the base of the reduced portion. When thereduced portion is bent to form the eye, and the said eye is completelyclosed, the free end of the wire is carried in so as to be shielded andprotected by the said shoulder.

In Figs. 7, 8 and 9 I have shown a modification resembling that which isshown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, but having in addition to what is shown inthe latter figures a recess 7 in the wire which is entered by the top ofthe wire when the eye is closed, whereby the said top is sheathed andprotected.

A lingo made in accordance with my invention has a perfectly smooth eyewhich cannot possibly chafe or cut either the twine of the particularheddle to which the lingo is attached, or the twines of the heddlesconnected with the adjacent lingoes in a loom. The said eye, moreover,in width is far less than the flattened eye-portion of the ordinarylingo, and the tip of the wire may be so disposed, as herein set forth,as to be effectually protected or shielded.

An extremely valuable feature of mylingo is the readiness with which itmay be applied to a wire heddle. In practice, in thus applying thelingo, it is necessary only to have the eye of the lingo openedslightly. The loop of a heddle then may be inserted readily into thepartly opened eye, after which the said eye may be closed by a slightapplication of force thereto.

The gist of my invention resides in making the upper portion of thelingo of reduced diameter, and in bending this reduced portion to form asmall eye for the reception of the twine or wire of the heddle to whichthe lingo is attached.

My lingo, in any of the forms illustrated, may be made rapidly and ingreat quantities by simple operations and simple tools or machines, andtherefore may be sold very cheaply.

I claim as my invention- 1. The improved lingo having the upper portionthereof of reduced diameter, and having the reduced portion bent intoasmall eye for the reception of the twine or wire of the heddle to whichthe lingo is attached when in use, substantially as described.

2. The improved lingo having the upper portion thereof of reduceddiameter, and having the reduced portion bent into a small eye for thereception of the twine or wire of the heddle to which the lingo isattached when in use, with the point of the portion of the Wire whichforms the eye shielded or protected, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE IV. STAFFORD.

Witnesses:

FRED A. WILDE, MABEL E. Tnow.

